Didi II - A Family-Name Extinguished

In my post dated 30.08.2013, titled 'Didi ',I had written about the elder sister of my best friend. He died of cancer and she struggled on and on with an indomitable spirit.

Both were unmarried. When I was working at Hyderabad in 2003, she contacted me with a marriage-proposal. The person was working at Hyderabad. I contacted him and talked to him. The proposal did not come off. When I was working at Vishakhapatnam, she expressed her desire to visit us and I agreed unhesitatingly.  After my retirement in 2009, Didi suggested that she spend about a week with us. And we agreed instantly.   

About a year ago, she had symptoms of cancer in one of her legs. She went for treatment at Delhi, staying with one of her cousins. She underwent treatment there and we were in touch with each other over phone. About 2 months ago, she came back to Bhubaneswar and continued with her treatment. My wife and i visited her once .

About a week ago, i received a call from one of my friends in the evening to say that she had been admitted to a hospital. I visited her  next morning. She was in the Intensive Care Unit and her face was covered with a ventilator. After some time, she opened her eyes and i did her a namaste. However, she showed no sign of recognising me. Her distantly-related cousin had come from Delhi. I remained in daily contact with him.

On the 24th September, 2019, he telephoned me in the evening to say that she was no more. I was crest-fallen. 

With this, an entire family-name came to an end.

I rushed to the hospital and we arranged for her cremation. Her cousin lit the pyre and promised to collect her ashes next morning and go to Puri with her ashes for visiarjan.

Bhavantarana (Immanence)

In You Tube, i came across a film titled ‘Bhavantarana’ made in 1991 by Kumar Sahani, on the legendary Odissi Dance Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra of Odisha. It features, among others, renowned Odissi danseuse Sanjukta Panigrahi and the famous Odissi dance exponent Kumkum Mohanty. The music is provided by the renowned musicians Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi (husband of Sanjukta Panigrahi) and others. Famous Odissi danseuses Daksha Mashruwala and Jhelum Paranjape have also been associated with the making of the film.

 

Bhavantarana (“Immanence”)

Director: Kumar Shahani
Year: 1991
“The point is, no film can be made on other arts as if it were some sort of social scientific question. You have to transform and violate the other art to some extent; through juxtaposition and montage, you violate the unity of that particular work, and you have to, because unless you do that you cannot achieve a kind of transcendence. As Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra said of my film, it is not a film ‘on’ him, but something which goes beyond him and beyond gestures; it is an interpretation.”
– Kumar Shahani.

Here is the video:

DHAN KI BAAT - A Year After

With this post, i reach the second mile-stone in my Blog, the 200th post.

On the 8^th November, 2017, the Indian Government celebrated as the Anti-Black Money Day (people on the other side of the political divide observed it as a Black Day). High denomination notes of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 (almost 86% of the money-supply) were de-monetised on the 8^th November, 2016.

After this event, i had published 3 blog-posts titled ‘Dhan ki Baat I, II and II on the 8, 9th and 10th January, 2017.

I had been following reports on the effect of this de-monetisation and i was wavering on whether it was beneficial or harmful for the country; however, the scale in my mind was tilting in favour of this decision.

On the 8^th November, 2017, newspapers carried reports of the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that demonetization was an “ethical and moral step”. The Opposition Parties led by Congress, a ramshackle party which failed to secure even 10% of the seats in the Lok Sabha in 2014 elections, to claim the position of Leader of Opposition, observed the day as a Black Day. One may dismiss as a mere power-play, what the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said on the subject. But when the seasoned economist and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who became the P.M., courtesy the Congress President Sonia Gandhi (The journalist Sanjay Baru book on him is titled ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’.) branded demonetization as “an organized loot and legalized plunder”, one would have taken notice. But it seemed that his economic analysis was coloured by the political situation in which he has placed himself. The United Progressive Alliance led by Congress and supported by C P M -Communist Party of India (Marxist) - was in power from 2004 to 2014, with Dr. Singh as P M. Its uncharitable critics dubbed the coalition as having 3 PMs: P M (Dr. Singh), C P M and an ‘S P M’ (Super P M Sonia Gandhi as Chairman of the specially created for her, the National Advisory Council).

However, the reasoned editorial of The Economic Times of the 8th November 2017 analysed the overall picture, took a balanced view and decided my view of de-monetisation. The first sentence of the editorial stated, “On the first anniversary of de-monetisation, it is unambiguously clear that the project has been a resounding success. It sent out a clear message that the government is determined to clamp down on black money and is prepared to take unorthodox measures for the purpose. … The government would now go after benami property.” Most black money is held as real estate, gold and other assets. The editorial went on to say that even most of the amount held in cash came back but at a cost to the black money holders; they had to employ people, directly or indirectly, to deposit the money in banks. And this has left a trail which the authorities are investigating.

This, i think, gives a correct picture.     

Anwesha Mahanta - the Sattriya Danseuse

I regularly watch Classical Indian Dance recitals on DD Bharati, telecast at 3 PM everyday. A few days ago, i chanced upon, on this TV channel, a presentation of Sattriya dance by Anesha Mahanta. I liked the presentation very much. So, i searched for more about her in You Tube. And here is video which was the result of my effort:





Here is a sample of her expert presentation of this dance form:

Ramayan - A Shared Culture

I chanced upon this video on Ramayan. I found it interesting and so am sharing it with you:

Brahma Kamal II

A video on planting Brahma Kama:




Here is a video on pruning and repotting of Brahma Kamal:

Andhra Natyam

Andhra Natyam is a folk dance of Andhra Pradesh. It is reported that efforts are being made to obtain for a classical status.



Andhra Natyam is a classical dance form originating from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. This traditional dance form, having a history of 2000 years, was lost in the Mughal and British era, and was revived in the 20th century. This dance form is essentially performed by females, characterised by rich footwork and Abhinaya. The musical instruments accompanying the dance include mridangam, manjira, veena, the violin, venu, tanpura, surpeti and kanjira.

It is derived from various dance forms and has strong similarities with Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam, including older dance styles like Dasiattam, Kacherittam and Chinnamelam. Though it originated in temples, it was also performed by the courtesans known as kalavantulu in Telugu, open-air public performances known as Kalopam are a part of Andhra Natyam.
 


Here is video of it.